‘Tonight Show’ receives highest ratings since 2010 during final week

After hosting The Tonight Show for 20 years, Jay Leno will give his final goodbye on Thursday night. His farewell seems to actually be attracting more viewers, as the episode which aired Wednesday night received the highest ratings the show has seen in the past four years.

According to Variety, approximately 4.99 million viewers watched the show during the week of January 27-31. This was an increase of about 30 percent from the same week a year ago, and it rose above competitors such as Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Jimmy Fallon also received his best ratings on Late Night last week since May 2009 and 30 percent higher than that of last year, with an average of 2.38 million viewers. He is set to take over Leno’s spot on The Tonight Show starting Feb. 17.

In an e-mail to The Boston Globe, Leno wrote, “This is really the end. When I left in 2009, I was probably going to go to another network or something else. So it feels like it really is the end this time.”

Leno’s final show will air tonight, with guests Garth Brooks and Billy Crystal.